S4 ilKMUlFiS OF THE QVEEXSLAKD MUSEUM. 



Historical: — Our first acquaintauee with this fine species comes through 

 Laeepeile, wlio tells us that tlu' si)eeiinen from which his deseription was 

 takeu was a part of the eolleetiou, which he euphemistically describes as having 

 been given by the Stadholder of Holland to France, and which undoubtedly caine 

 from somewhere in the Dutch East Indies. He also mentions a second specimen 

 as having come from Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana ; this is of course a 

 mistake. Russell and Sounerat obtained it on the Coromandel Coast of India, at 

 Vizagapatam and Pondicherry respectively, while Valenciennes reports that 

 Messrs. Kuhl and van Hasselt sent a Javanese example to the ]\ruseum of the 

 Low Countries, and that Dussumier found it abundant at Bombay. Cantor states 

 that ' ' small individuals occur at Pinang at all seasons ; larger ones b\it rarely. ' ' 

 Bleeker received specimens from Celebes, Bali, Borneo, Java, Banca, Pinang. and 

 Bengal, and records that, like many of its congeners, it freely enters I'ivers. 

 Peters added the width of the Indian Ocean to its range by obtaining specimens 

 at Quilimane, an important centre on the western shore of the Mozambique 

 Channel. Giinther added Ceylon and Tenasserim to the list of recorded localities. 

 Its first occurrence in Australia is contained in Steindachner's description of a 

 South Australian scia-uid by the name of ^'. uiiillcri, which form was subse- 

 quently reported from the Queensland Coast by Klunzinger. Macleay next 

 redesci'ibed it, under the untenable name of Corviiin ari/ciifra, from examjJes 

 collected by Morton in the estuary of the Burdekin River, where, he states, "it is 

 an abundant and valuable fish." Finally the Queensland Museum possesses a 

 specimen collected many years ago iiy Mr. Kendal Broadbent at Dunk Island, ;,nd 

 a second, which probably belongs here, is labeled "^loreton Bay (r. infra)." 



Uses: — Dussumier reported that at Bombay it was considere<l "a good 

 fi.sh," while in regard to Pinang Cantor repeats his usual formula "eaten by the 

 natives," but adds that "the few air-vessels i)roeurable are valued as good 

 isinglass. ' ' 



Range: — From the East Coast of Africa Ihiough the Seas of India and 

 Malaysia to .South Australia and th<' Coast of (^ueeuslaiul. 



Dimensions: — Attains a length of at least GOO iiiin. 



Ula.stration : — Taken from the lectotype al)Ove referred to. 



The following difi'ereiices, some at least of whieh can luirdly be called 

 trivial, occur between the Moreton Bay example above mentioned and my 

 description of Scieena soldado. Nevertheless, although it is a slightly smaller 

 (300 mm.) and much dee])er fish than eitliei' of the two utilized in iiie]iaring Ihat 

 description, I look upon it as merely a somewhat abnormal example of the same 

 species. 



I)ei)th of body 2-7 in its leiit^th and one fourtli more than the length of the 

 head. Abdomen short, its length from venti'al-base to vent iicS in tiie length i-f 

 the body and I-.') in the space between the vent and the root of the caudal. Caudal 

 peduncle a little di'cper than long, its h^ast depth 2-77 in the lenirth of the head. 



